One of the European Union’s main problems is that we are not sure what it actually is. Žiga Turk asks, is it a free trade area, a giant NGO based in Brussels to do good for Europe and the World, or perhaps a country in the making?

With the exception of Martin Schulz, European leaders missed their opportunity to be heard by citizens following the Paris attacks, Piotr M. Kaczy?ski told EURACTIV Czech Republic in an exclusive interview.

In his much awaited visit to the European Parliament in Strasbourg on Tuesday, His Holiness Pope Francis warned MEPs that “Europe seems to have lost their attraction, only to be replaced by the bureaucratic technicalities of its institutions.”

An oath of allegiance to the Treaty of the EU and 'European values' should ban far-right, anti-immigrant and racist politicians from the European Parliament. Sounds too good to be true? That's because it is, writes Mose Apelblat.

The EU Parliament has put new rules in the pipeline on Tuesday (18 March) aimed at increasing funding transparency of pan-European political parties. The rules bar parties from receiving funding if they don’t respect EU values.

Analysing Europe's economic crisis it is worth realising that today’s Europeans have entered a phase of history where the buccaneering spirit has left them. “The desire for knowledge has separated itself from the hunger we have for wealth and glory”, writes George Friedman.

Addressing the European Parliament today (16 April) in Strasbourg, Finnish Prime Minister Jyrki Katainen pleaded for the new concept of “fair integration”, which he said would keep the EU safe from the twin threats of nationalism and populism. Many MEPs saw his speech as a jockeying exercise for one of the EU's top jobs, which will be up for grabs in 2014.

The consequences of hate speech on the Internet and through social media can be extremely serious, Snežana Samardži?-Markovi?, director general of democracy for the Council of Europe, told EURACTIV in an exclusive interview.